The Demise of a Network (Beware: Dutch content)
January 24, 2008
Three years ago I was sitting with some friends and we wondered why there are so many great students that never really get together and try to support eachother and stimulate self-improvement. So we started a network that did just that. Now, three years later after a fantastic time we decided the network served it’s purpose and we are disbanding it. The reason I’m mentioning it now isn’t really because I’m dramatic about it. Actually I’d like to share some of the more popular Show & Tell presentations that we made. So here you go…
My new lifehack rule: Three times = action
October 3, 2007
How we process the information that comes to us is a curious thing. I mean, we are bombarded with information through all kinds of channels, targeted at all our senses, that we somehow know how to manage. Apparently, we see more images now each day, than people who lived a few hundred years back saw in their entire life!
Most of this information we filter out (a necessary and healthy strategy), but that comes with a risk of ignoring something that could actually be incredibly interesting. I noticed a while back though, that if I’m confronted with a word, concept, product or something like that, repeatedly (without it being advertisements) it leads me to look into it further.
This is a very logical and completely unsurprising conclusion, but if you are conscious of it, you can actually enforce it on purpose. And that’s what I do now.
An example: Let’s say I overheard someone talking about an obscure author on Friday; happened to see an interview with that author on Saturday and saw the book in a bookstore few days later. Normally, I might or might not do something with this, but I now have a new rule:
3 times means action.
So if I get confronted with something three times during a short period, I force myself to look into it (in this case, I bought the book). This way, I force myself not to think about if something fits my interests, and add an element of surprise… which goes perfectly with the whole comfort zone story! An added advantage is that automatically you follow most trends :-)
After a while you start to see the most weirdly interesting things, just because you have a somewhat randomly seeded, objective filter of what to look into, despite your frame of reference.
I know it sounds stupid and futile, but it’s cool! :-)
A Day @ Xolo, Part 6: Hotel California
October 2, 2007
Hear all! A beautiful rendition of Hotel California ;-) Ruben sings most of it, but the bits that sound good are sung by Mr Gabe B himself! Gabe competed in the Dutch version of Pop Idols, where finished in the top 20-something region!
Anyway, just another day @ Xolo ;-)
Announcement: Merger Istoria & WW
July 27, 2004
Hello.
After extremely sensitive negotiations (ahum), Merijn (Owner of Istoria) and I have agreed on some sort of merger between our sites.
But.. we could really use your feedback.. So please follow this forum link
In memoriam
July 25, 2004
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Posted: July the 25th, 2004
Interesting tidbit: Ow no! Not GUM!!
May 26, 2004
This is the story about an enemy.. an enemy of the state!
In Singapore –the cleaning ladies’ favorite holiday spot– this feared enemy is rearing it’s ugly ahead again. Chewing gum alert! Click read more for the scary details…
Funny: Behold! The truth is uncovered!!
May 23, 2004
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And the winner is: Fahrenheit 9/11
May 22, 2004
 
Well I guess it was already in the air: Fahrenheit 9/11 has just won Cannes’ top prize today. This is the first documentary to win the prize since 1956! Michael Moore, the filmmaker was reported to be overwhelmed. Not unimportantly: F-9/11 is a very strong indictment against Bush and his administration. More than one critic is therefore dubbing this a political vote more than an artistic one. |
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Funny: Is it bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s a garage door opener!
May 20, 2004
Interesting tidbit: Virtual money to the next level!?
May 16, 2004
 
In a must read story on “The Walrus” author Clive Thompson tells the tale of a man who discovers that a game (EverQuest in this case) has actually it’s own economy, which, because of e-bay auctions for online gaming accounts and items, is worth cold hard cash. He also calculated that EverQuest is currently the 77th richest country in the world (if it would exist that is) with a ‘national product’ of $2,266 per capita. The hourly winnings in the game actually exceed minimum wages in most countries. |
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